A Predatory Backer
Henry couldn't understand the contents of this incomplete message at all. He certainly didn't know what old Charlie meant by warning him to be careful.
Seeing the young man's bewildered expression, satisfied old Charlie finally revealed the full story. "Do you know what the older, Old Money in United States care about most?"
"No need to guess, I'll tell you directly. It's health. There's a group of people who survived World War II, and it seems like they made a pact, at roughly the same time, their health deteriorated rapidly."
"These people have all gathered on the West Coast, hoping to obtain the island's resources for healing. Some even hope to receive the Vampires's Embrace and become one of them."
"It was precisely the sudden arrival of this group of Old Money, and the fact that they had something to ask for, that emboldened the Vampires of the Mystikos Sect recently, making them even more arrogant than before."
"Before you make any decisions related to the Mystikos Sect, you need to consider the possibility that those Old Money might cause trouble or support those Vampires. Now you know why I sent you to find that young master Stark."
This passage contained a great deal of information, and Henry couldn't help but spend some time thinking about it carefully.
What If...? there were only Vampires, these lowly, shameful creatures could all be captured and Sun Pharma, saving the trouble of even disposing of their bodies.
But if there are too many Old Money, especially those terminally ill Old Money who are hoping to be saved by Vampires, it wouldn't be surprising what they do.
Furthermore, old Charlie mentioned the word "island." Could it be that the legendary island is controlled by Vampires?
It's really a mountain of troubles.
Seeing the young man's conflicted expression, old Charlie chuckled and said, "Are you thinking of just not going to accept the invitation, or that you'll simply refuse no matter what they say, or something like that?"
"So you're saying this approach is useless?"
"That would certainly work, otherwise I wouldn't have given you that advice. Don't go see them, and don't even talk about cooperation. But as I said, they'll be persistent, and you'll have to withstand the pressure. It would be best to divert their attention."
So, we still have to trick Tony Stark, right?
Old Charlie's repeated suggestive remarks led Henry to consider a possibility. He launched a surprise attack, asking, "Could they also be members of the High Table?"
Maintaining the same smile, old Charlie retreated to his chair, no longer leaning forward with one elbow on the table as he had been talking. He casually picked up a whiskey, took a sip, and covered his mouth, refusing to speak.
It seems that my coming to the Continental Hotel to ask for information was anticipated by the people on the other side.
Old Charlie's actions clearly signaled the end of the conversation. Henry, of course, wouldn't be so tactless as to press for more information. In any case, anything he said, including what he had already said, would likely be taken with a grain of salt.
Judging from these suggestive remarks, the other party's target is still Tony Stark. He himself is merely an innocent bystander, implicated by that young master.
This kind of thing... of course you should tell the person involved! What kind of person would you be if you just silently shouldered it all?
My earlier worries were not Reason. Getting close to these well-known characters in Marvel makes it easy to get entangled in their karma.
Tony Stark's troubles were far more numerous than Henry had initially anticipated. It's remarkable that he lived to 2008 before creating his first suit. His various quirks later on were indeed forced upon him, not innate.
However, that young master's quirks had nothing to do with Henry. He wasn't Henry's father or mother, so he had to teach this grown man what manners were.
After finishing the espresso that was served, Henry didn't say anything harsh; he simply nodded in acknowledgment and left the Continental Hotel.
This sanctuary in the Dark World is still a place where people devour each other, not a safe haven to rely on. Having realized this, Henry slightly adjusted his thinking.
Any information about themselves that the Continental Hotel know must be assumed to be known by those Vampires as well.
The "Mutants" ability of the Steel Body is something that almost anyone with a bit of expertise can discover.
However, few people knew that the "Tinkerer's" identity was linked to "Henry Brown." Even within the Continental Hotel in Los Angeles, this was not common knowledge.
"The Tinkerer" hasn't been seen for quite some time. The trouble he's left behind is probably the money he swindled from that mob boss. That money was being watched by the FBI, and it's unclear whether they're still monitoring it.
Aside from that... to be honest, there aren't many serious weaknesses that the Continental Hotel have in their hands.
Backed by Stark Industries, even if someone were to leak information to the FBI that "Tinkerer" is actually "Henry Brown," Henry wouldn't be afraid to sue the FBI. Stark's legal team is not to be trifled with.
He didn't keep a diary, had no secret ledgers, and the illicit money he didn't have wasn't in a bank or in old Gary's apartment building. Without finding any stolen goods or money, the IRS couldn't even come forward and claim he evaded taxes.
Unless the FBI or any official organization resorts to framing or false accusations, legally, Henry cannot be found to have committed any wrongdoing.
Henry was able to clean up the traces he left behind, which made his time of reading books on California law and taxation, as well as the federal laws related to him, worthwhile.
If these official organizations dare to fabricate evidence and frame themselves, it would give Stark's legal team a pretext to directly accuse the prosecutor of false accusation, making it impossible to overturn the case even if new evidence emerges in the future.
In other words, the leak of intelligence regarding the Continental Hotel wasn't a major problem for Henry. His real weakness was his future Oscars actress girlfriend.
However, there's no need to start by aiming for the worst; just be prepared. After all, things haven't even begun, and the other party hasn't been contacted yet, so nobody knows how things will actually develop.
We arrived at the service center of the supercomputer "Hollywood Kid," which is also the location of the editing studio that Stark Studios rents out.
There are a total of twenty editing studios available for rent. After this period of market development, almost all of them are operating at full capacity.
Although some well-funded production teams buy editing software and use the latest high-performance computers for editing, those who have used it still come back to rent Stark Studios ' editing rooms.
The software version and usage are the same, but the hardware resources here are backed by a supercomputer. The operating efficiency can be more than half that of a commercially available high-performance computer, so it's obvious which one users will choose.